Wednesday, December 23, 2009

FaithMarie and I have been talking about opening the blog to member submissions. If you have a great technique, tutorial, video, cool art site, or question you would like to share on the blog e-mail it to us at webmaster@artfortytwo.org.

If you want to add pictures or video to your post please make sure to include them or links to them and where they should go. Also, feel free to include a brief bio/links to your site etc.

As long as your submission is art related or educational we will probably post it. If it wouldn't be of interest to our members we probably won't post it. Easy enough right?

Also, our lovely and delightful member Nicci set up a flicker pool for Art Forty-Two members. If you use flicker here is another great way to share some eye candy with other members (besides on our facebook fan page and the site.)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hello Members!We launched a new feature this evening. Finally, a little eye candy - profile pictures! So get yourselves posted - we can't wait to see you. Next up - one to one exchanges and an image gallery.

FaithMarie and I are so happy with the community of artists the site has created and every day we talk about how much we love you guys!

This was a fantastic swap and everyone did such a great job. We had so much fun looking at all the unique ideas. It was tough to pick samples to post but here is some inspiration for future swap. Keep up the fabulous work and stay creative.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

We have given project hosts more control of who can sign up for their projects. By leaving the karma box blank the default will allow anyone to join a project. This includes anyone with negative karma. By setting the karma to “0” people with no karma and positive karma will be allowed to join. Of course for those projects very dear to your heart you can still require more karma by adding in a higher number.

How to redeem yourself after receiving negative Karma?Usually, project host give negative Karma for people who don’t participating after signing up for a project and then are non-responsive to any correspondence.

Life happens, and even though the karma won’t be erased, there is a way to gain positive karma to show other traders your credibility. You may do this by

* signing up for site-hosted swaps

*signing up for swaps open to anyone.

* remember to fulfill your obligation once you’ve signed up

* Don’t take on too many projects if you’re feeling overwhelmed

*If something happens- COMMUNICATE with the project host and, if necessary, withdraw from the project.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The leaves are falling and the weather is getting colder and it definitely feels like fall in the Northwest. It’s a great time to clean the office/studio and get creative. Have wonderful artful weekend.

Submit a PNG, PSD, GIF, JPG, TIFF, AI, or PDF file that is 14.25 x 11 inches (or 2850 pixels x 2200 pixels) at a resolution of 200 dpi. The work can be digitally created or a scan of an original work - but scans must be of the specified resolution (or better) to ensure a fantastic final product.

How work will be selected:

If we receive 12 submissions each will be included in the calendar.

If we receive more than 12 submissions, Art Forty-Two will select 12 for the calendar.

The Fine Print:

Each artist will submit a permission form that will provide Art Forty-Two with the following permissions regarding your work.

If the artwork is used in the calendar, Art Forty-Two may:

Upload the work to Zazzle.com for inclusion of the 2010 Art Forty-Two calendar

Use my art in icons for the sole purpose of promoting the calendar

Not use my work for any other purpose, besides the 2010 calendar, with out first obtaining additional permissions.

If the artwork is not used in the calendar Art Forty-Two will not use it for any other purpose without first obtaining additional permissions from the artist.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Monskey Project was designed to provide a platform for Artist andDesigners from all over the world to share their creativity. To date,we have designs from over 10 countries. Check out the new website athttp://monskey.us

Monskey is heading to Target and wants you to come along! Your customdesigned Monskey could be part of Target’s new Designer Toy section!So grab a template and get to it!

Contest ends October 31.

PRIZES

1) 12 winning designs will be chosen and included in the Target Monskey series.2) Winners will receive 100 toys with their design.

RULES

1) Enter as many times as you like. Use the template from http://monskey.us.2) You can use up to 6 unique colors in your design. Please includethe PANTONE swatches along with your submission.3) Accepted file formats: ai, eps, psd, jpg, pdf4) Submitted work must be original and may not contain work previouslypublished, trademarks, logos, copyrights, or any other intellectualproperty from a third party (If you didn’t draw it, you can’t submitit).5) Artists retain rights to their design and may use it for otherprivate or commercial uses if your design is not chosen once thecompetition is complete. If your design is chosen, by submitting, yougrant Octopus Design the exclusive right to use your design on vinyltoys.6) 12 winning designs will be chosen by Octopus Design’s art team.7) Winners will be contacted via email.8) Contest ends October 31. Winners will be announced November 14.9) Send entries to jason@bigatron.com with the subject line “MonskeyTarget Design Entry.”

Friday, August 21, 2009

Last week at our Art Forty-Two meeting we talked about the next features to roll out. FaithMarie and I want to keep you all in-the-know so here is what's next.

First priority: one-to-one exchanges. We plan on adding an exchange tool on the profile page, and on a new exchange page, that will allow members to add items they would like to exchange with other members, such as random paper, stickers, or whatever.

Second priority: icons on profile pages. We want to give you all the ability to add some personality to your profile pages with a profile icon/avatar/picture.

So, basically, this next update will give you a new tool and a new bit of eye candy. We chose to do one:one exchanges first because it was the most popular request according to our feedback survey. We've prioritized updates based on that survey - thanks to all who have responded - your ideas help a lot!

Now, our resident geek (aka: my husband), who generously donates his time to help do the back-end work on the site has said he would not be able to begin on these two changes until September. We hope to roll these changes out sometime in October. We may even call out to members in late September or October to help us test.

Keep creating - we love you guys!

PS: I would like to apologize for the slow response on some of the e-mails that have come to our webmaster e-mail. We try to respond within 24 to 48 hours but sometimes it may take a little longer. We will try to improve the turn around.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

We are pleased to see the site membership growing every day. We have noticed there are some member accounts that have minimal contact information. So I thought I would offer just a few words on addresses.

In order to protect member privacy, we added some "confidential" features, so each member can choose how much of his or her mailing address to reveal to the entire Art Forty-Two membership.

This week a member e-mailed and asked, "how will participants in a project with me know what my address is?" The answer consists of two options:

- Enter your mailing address and make it public to members. Note members must be logged in to see any member or project information.

or

- Keep your address confidential and e-mail it to whomever needs it.

The choice is yours. :O)

IMPORTANT: Sometimes, FaithMarie and I like to mail surprises to our members. So make sure your profile is complete as possible - even if the address is confidential. This will allow us to send treats out. During Art Forty-Two's first month, we sent collage packets to about fifty members. We wanted to send them to the first 100 members but several of the profiles were incomplete.

Also, FaithMarie and I like to celebrate birthdays so make sure you enter yours into your profile.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Our resident geek has been hard at work this week. The following updates have been made to the site.

Mail Participants - now, you can send a message to all of the participants of your project at one time.

"Active" and "Show All" for Profiles: projects you have marked as "completed" will now be hidden. Choosing "Show All" will show hidden and active projects. This feature was added to the Hosted and Projects tabs of member profiles.

Added the "Due" feature to the Hosted tab on member profiles.

All projects on member profiles are sorted by due date. (If the date was entered/properly entered).

We are working on several other features including one:one exchanges, integrating this blog into the site, and QA messages between members on-site.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Well, we don't have it integrated into the site yet, but we thought we should at least get the blog started. I can't tell you how many days I've wanted to get our blog set up so we can talk to our members. We are currently in the works for what we call "version 1.1". There are several things on our to do list, but most importantly we are working on integrating this blog, and creating a forum for the site. (That's just two of the things.)

All of the feedback from the site has been fantastic. The things we've planned, or talked about the site needing, are exactly what you have requested - and you've given us a few new ideas too!

FaithMarie and I have talked about the site, and how we want to run it, and we have decided to communicate with our members as much as possible. We want to tell you our plans for the site and we want to hear your ideas. Our objective is to create a positive and fun mail art community where people have a great time and feel safe exploring new ideas and stretching themselves artistically.

We are all on this journey together - welcome along - and thank you for coming.